Sylva man given state conservation award

A retired Western Carolina University professor and Jackson County environmentalist has been given top honors for his work in education and advocacy.

The N.C. Wildlife Federation has honored Dan Pittillo with the Environmental Educator of the Year award. Pittillo spent 50 years educating at the academic, regional, community and grassroots levels, and is still involved in environmental issues across the mountains.

The award is part of the Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards, (GCAA) an effort to honor individuals, governmental bodies, organizations and others who have exhibited commitment to conservation in North Carolina. The GCAA ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 at the Embassy Suites in Cary.

Award winners are nominated by the residents of North Carolina and decided upon by a committee of scientists, environmental educators and conservation activists. Categories of achievement include wildlife conservation, water conservation, forestry, sportsmen and others. This is the 50th anniversary of the awards.

The Naturalist's Corner

Friends and followers of “The Naturalist’s Corner” know I’m keeping a year-list of birds I see/hear this year. As I wrote in an earlier column, “I was just curious about how many different species of birds I normally run into throughout the year.” And I have a great core of birding activities that provide a good nucleus for a list including Christmas Bird Count, George Ellison’s Great Smoky Mountains Birding Expedition, my annual point count contract with the Forest Service and other opportunities such as leading a trip for the Franklin Bird Club, generally leading birding trips during the annual Wildflower Pilgrimage (which, regrettably, I missed this year due to a scheduling conflict with spring break) and an annual summer trip to Isle of Palms. The Isle of Palms trip is the one I was counting on for a list boost.